Synopses & Reviews
What events and processes occur in the lives of open and expressive boys that often change them into locked-down, uncommunicative adolescents? In this book, a counseling psychologist draws on her own extensive research to help your understand the communication challenges faced by your son or a boy you care about. The book begins with the assumption that boys of all dispositions, from outgoing athletes to introspective intellectuals, need help and support to make it through their adolescences. The book suggests ways you can help the boy in your life make small, incremental changes that will help him express his emotions. It also offers you, the adult, a variety of effective approaches for dealing with specific problem behaviors and situations you might encounter with your growing boy.
Review
“Dr. Polce-Lynch challenges all adults—parents, teachers, coaches, etc.—to find a new and more empathetic way to connect to the boys in our midst by hearing their sometimes silent or coded cries for assistance and relationship. Boy Talk is a must read for anyone involved in the complex world of today’s boys and young men.”
—William S. Pollack,Ph.D., author of Real Boys Workbook and Real Boys and Director, Centers for Men & Young Men at McLean Hospital Faculty, Harvard Medical School
Review
“Drawing on an array of important research as well as on her extensive clinical expertise, mary Polce-Lynch convincingly illustrates the critical connection between appropriate emotional expression and overall mental health. Boy Talk provides concrete, easy-to-follow instructions for raising emotionally competent boys within a culture that conspires to turn them into unfeeling machines. This is an excellent guide for parents and other adults who want to help boys learn how to navigate an interpersonally difficult world.”
—Christopher Kilmartin, Ph.d., psychologist, author of The Masculine Self, playwright and performer of Crimes Against Nature, a solo theatrical performance on growing up in America
Review
“Boy Talk is a landmark book that can spring the male trap—the crazy rules of masculinity that stop boys from saying what they feel. It’s a blueprint that shows how boys can reclaim their emotions, and in the process become men of strength, independence, and integrity.”
—Matthew McKay, Ph.D., author of Self Esteem and Being a Man
Synopsis
A noted psychologist draws on the latest research to help parents understand why so many open and expressive boys turn into uncommunicative adolescents. Building on interventions developed in her clinical practice, Polce-Lynch provides parents with practical everyday strategies to help their sons develop a full range of emotional awareness and expression.
About the Author
Mary Polce-Lynch, Ph.D., is a developmental psychologist, psychotherapist, and researcher. Over the past twenty years, she has worked in public education, community mental health, and higher education. Polce-Lynch is the Assistant Director of the Center for Counseling and Career Planning at Randolph-Macon College, where she also teaches Psychology of Gender as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Psychology. She has published professional articles throughout her career and is currently directing her writing toward general readers, especially parents. She has a private clinical practice in Richmond, Virginia with Westhampton Family Psychologists. She lives in Ashland, Virginia.
Michael Gurian is a family therapist, educator, and author of fourteen books including the national best sellers The Wonder of Boys, A Fine Young Man, and Boys and Girls Learn Differently. He has served as a consultant to school districts, families, therapists, community agencies, churches, and policy makers, traveling to approximately thirty-five cities a year to lead seminars, consult, and keynote conferences. Gurian’s training videos for parents and volunteers are used by Big Brothers and Big Sisters agencies in the U.S. and Canada. He lives in Spokane, Washington.
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